Countries I’ve Visited

So far, in order of when I visited them, these are the 38 countries I’ve been to, along with links to the posts I’ve written and the photos I’ve taken:

1. The UK (blog posts about England / Wales / pictures of England / Wales)
Like, duh, I was born here.

2. France
My first trip abroad was a French exchange to Rouen in 1986, for which purpose I got a British Visitors Passport from the Post Office. Can you imagine that happening now?! Since then I’ve been back (I think) ten times, including two camping trips (Britanny, the Dordogne & Provence), two business trips (Paris & Eurodisney), one birthday (Paris, again), one romantic weekend (more Paris), a Ryanair bargain (Carcassonne was the cheapest flight I could find), two ski trips (La Plagne in 2008 and Les Arcs in 2009) and possibly most fun of all, a twelve-hour overnight visit with no sleep (thanks to Eurostar’s clubbing fare)

3. Russia
Not every school kid got to go on a school trip to the USSR. I was very lucky back in 1988 (thanks Mum & Dad for agreeing to pay!) to go to Moscow & Leningrad. I’m dying to go back to see quite how much they’ve changed.

4. Armenia
…even luckier that the trip also took in a visit to Yerevan.

5. Georgia
…from where we drove over the Caucasus mountains to Tbilisi.

6. Azerbaijan
…and then a train on to Baku.

7. Monaco
On my second family camping trip, in 1988 (I think), to the south of France, we drove over to Monaco for the day.

8. Italy
…and then nipped over the border to Ventimiglia, just to say we’d done it. Since then I’ve been back to Rome (2000) & Milan (2002). Hated them both. Still my least favourite country. I need to go back to see what everyone else sees in the place.

9. Germany
After years of nagging Dad to try and get posted overseas by work, he finally gave in. We ended up in Germany. I was disappointed (hey, I wanted Cyprus), but grew to love the place, and it’s now one of my favourite places. Aside from living there, I’ve been back to my old hometown, Berlin three times (1999, 2004 and 2005), and Hamburg (four times for work in 2007).

10. Austria
A summer holiday with the family in Bavaria gave us the opportunity to visit Salzburg.

11. Belgium (pictures)
First proper visit was an A-level politics trip in 1991 where we spent the week discussing European politics. In French. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved it, and it changed the course of my life, as it was after that i decided to languages at uni, and to do it in London. We were based in Genk, but also visited Brussels, Bruges and Leuven. I returned in 2001 to visit a friend in Brussels, and for a third trip in 2009 to Antwerp.

12. Netherlands
First visit was to Maastricht in 1991 as part of my first trip to Belgium. Since then, I’ve spent numerous weekends in Amsterdam, and lived for a while in Utrecht as part of my degree.

13. Spain (blog posts)
My first holiday after graduating was 10 days in Barcelona in 1996. It’s subsequently become my most visited and favourite country in Europe – I’ve been back to Barcelona in 2001 (to see the F1 Grand Prix), and twice in 2005. In 2001, I travelled to Madrid, Seville, Granada and Cordoba. Most of all though, I’ve been to Ibiza, visiting in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and twice in 2008.

14. Canada
I was looking on Teletext for a cheap flight to Spain in spring 1997. Instead, I found one for £99 to Toronto. Spent two weeks there and visiting Niagara falls. Loved it.

15. USA
First visit was for about an hour during my Niagara Falls visit in 1997. Thanks to some compensation from United Airlines, I managed to wangle a freebie weekend in New York in 1999. I’ve followed that up with a whirlwind week visiting New York, San Francisco & Washington DC in 2000, a working week in New York in 2005, and a weekend of partying in Miami on my way from Honduras to Colombia as part of my 09-10 RTW trip.

16. China
Well, Hong Kong actually (I feel like I need to go back and see China proper to justify having it coloured on the map there). Spent two weeks there in 1998 pursuing a doomed long-distance romance…

17. Thailand
…which also involved flying from Hong Kong to Koh Samui for five days on the beach. Subsequent visits have just been stopovers in Bangkok, in 1999 on the way back from Sydney, and in 2007/8 on the way to/from Laos.

18. Australia
Thanks to a generous bonus from work (and in an incredible stroke of luck winning free business class flights), I had the holiday of a lifetime in Cairns & Sydney in 1999. I returned in 2006 to visit relatives on the Gold Coast and friends in Sydney.

19. Ireland
Considering my family connections, and its proximity to the UK, I’m amazed this didn’t come sooner. In fact, my first visit was a work trip to Dublin, as were most of the subsequent ones. Other than work I’ve been once for a gig, also to Dublin, as well as twice to Waterford, once for work and once for pleasure.

20. Vatican City
Visiting the world’s smallest country is a bit of a no-brainer for the country-collector while you’re in Rome. So that’s exactly what I did in 2000. View from the top of St Peter’s is worth it though.

21. Hungary
Despite being caught in a freak record-breaking heatwave, soaked to the skin in the heaviest rain I have ever had the misfortune to be caught in, and getting my first ever wasp skin during my visit in 2002, I’m not going to hold it against Hungary, as Budapest rocks.

22. Turkey (blog posts / pictures)
When I won a holiday to Turkey in 2004 via work, I was delighted; when I found it was an activity holiday for families, everyone who knew me laughed. Turns out I loved the sailing and waterskiing (even if my companion didn’t), and was the big step that really began the shift of my travels from being party-centric to being more outdoorsy. in 2008, I returned, this time to Istanbul.

23. Finland
“Hello? Is that The Times free flights promotion? Yes, I’d like to go to Madrid please. What? That’s gone already? For the next six months? OK then. Lisbon. No? Hmm. Rome? Munich? Athens? None of them? Helsinki is all that’s left you say? Oh well, I suppose that’ll have to do”. Not the most auspicious start to my first trip in 2001. Turned out to be great fun though. Much moreso than all my subsequent visits, which were mostly there and back in a day for work. Still haven’t been pony trekking or camping yet though.

24. Japan
I only ended up there in 2006 by accident, as it turned out JAL was the cheapest way to fly to Brisbane. Once I’d booked it, I ended up more excited about my stopover than my holiday. It didn’t disappoint.

25. Portugal (blog posts / pictures)
I didn’t make my first visit til 2006, but already I’ve probably seen more of Portugal than any other European country, thanks to a roadtrip taking in Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra, Obidos, Batalha, Fatima, Nazare, the Pinhal de Leiria, Figueira da Foz and Coimbra on my first trip. I returned twice in 2008, once to see Lisbon again and the second time to explore the Algarve.

26. Greece
After years of taking my annual beach holiday to Ibiza, I finally tried something different in 2006, heading instead to Mykonos. Now I want to go back to explore some of the other islands.

27. Mexico (blog posts / pictures)
Sat in a pub over Christmas 2006 I was complaining about how being single meant missing out on holidays. Six weeks later I was on my first proper backpacking trip, in southern Mexico, with the people from the pub. In 2009, I returned to Mexico as the first stop on my 2009-10 round the world trip.

28. Belize
We also managed to squeeze in a bit of Belize (actually, a bit more than we bargained for after a comedy of errors involving missed buses, forgotten guidebooks, misleading advice from locals, and getting the exchange rate wrong) during the same trip, as it was en route to…

29. Guatemala (blog posts / pictures)
…Tikal in Guatemala. I’ve already written several times about quite how amazing that place is. I returned to the country in May 2009 to study Spanish and hike volcanoes.

30. UAE
Including the UAE is cheating really, as I’ve only stepped foot inside Abu Dhabi airport, on the way to & from Laos in 2007/8.

31. Laos (blog posts)
When I booked three weeks in Laos over Christmas 2007, i didn’t quite realise the effect it would have on me. By the time I got back, I’d decided to quit my job and finally do the travelling thing properly.

32. Poland (blog posts) / pictures)
November 2008 saw me visiting with friends for my birthday, and it was great.

33. Norway
First new country (of many) for 2009 was Norway, for a stag weekend on skis. Rivalling Mexico as the friendliest country I’ve ever visited, I’ll definitely be returning when I get back from my RTW, to see Oslo and hopefully the northern lights. It’s also by the far most expensive place too though, so my return trip may have to wait longer than I’d like.

34. Switzerland
Like number 30, this one’s a bit of a cheat too – I flew into Geneva in March 2009 to reach my ski holiday just over the border in France, and then back out again a week later.

35. Honduras (blog posts / pictures)
The first new country of my 2009-10 round the world trip, I spent two weeks there in June 2009, mostly learning to dive in the Bay Islands.

36. Colombia (blog posts / pictures)
I arrived in Colombia for my first trip to South America in June 2009, and spent six weeks in the country.

37. Peru (blog posts / pictures)
My second stop in South America was Peru, in August 2009. I spent six weeks in the country, most of which was spent hiking in the Andes.

38. Bolivia
Country number three in my South American trip, I arrived in September 2009, and spent a couple of weeks in the country. Far too short, I definitely need to go back!

39. Chile
My first visit was a fleeting two day stop in the Atacama desert on the way from Bolivia to Argentina. I returned six days later, to the capital, Santiago.

40. Argentina
My fifth South American country was just a short visit on my way from Bolivia to Santiago, but in that time I managed to eat steak every day. Mmmm.

My current round the world travel plans should see me adding another ten to this list. Watch this space.